Bleak House
As the interminable case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce grinds its way through the Court of Chancery, it draws together a disparate group of people: Ada and Richard Clare, whose inheritance is gradually being devoured by legal costs; Esther Summerson, a ward of court, whose parentage is a source of deepening mystery; the menacing lawyer Tulkinghorn; the determined sleuth Inspector Bucket; and even Jo, the destitute little crossing-sweeper. A savage, but often comic, indictment of a society that is rotten to the core, Bleak House is one of Dickens's most ambitious novels, with a range that extends from the drawing rooms of the aristocracy to the poorest of London slums.
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What you might want to know about Bleak House
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
The endless inheritance case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce drags on in the Court of Chancery while orphan Esther Summerson tells half the story, and a third-person narrator follows London from Tom-all-Alone's to Lincolnshire.
Yes. Bleak House is one of Dickens's longest and most complex novels, with two interweaving narrators, a vast cast, and dense Victorian prose. Most readers find the first 100 pages challenging before settling into the rhythm. It is widely considered Dickens's masterpiece.
Yes. The BBC's 2005 fifteen-part adaptation, starring Gillian Anderson and Charles Dance, is widely considered one of the great Dickens screen adaptations. Earlier versions exist from 1985 and other periods.
Bleak House was written by Charles Dickens, published in 1968 by Pan Macmillan.
Bleak House is 85 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Bleak House takes most readers 1 to 2 hours to finish.
Bleak House is a standalone novel by Charles Dickens, not part of a series.
Bleak House is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
